Emmanuel Petit was told to kill a cow to avoid serious injury – only for worst fears to come true

Emmanuel Petit has revealed he ignored advice to sacrifice a cow to ward off injuries – only to see his career ended prematurely.

The French legend hung up his boots in 2005 following a string of knee issues which hampered the end of his playing days at Chelsea.

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Petit enjoyed a glittering 16-year playing career, winning eight major trophies for club and country.

An Arsenal great, he won the the 1998 Premier League and FA Cup double with the Gunners before tasting World Cup glory with France in the same year.

The legendary midfielder then departed north London in 2000 after a three-year spell to join Barcelona.

His time in Spain was short-lived though, and he returned to English football by joining Chelsea a year later.

However, after enjoying plenty of action in his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge, Petit’s third was derailed by a string of knee injuries.

He was let go by the Blues in 2004, before announcing his retirement in January 2005 after failing fully to recover from his problems.

‘Something bad is going to happen’

Petit has now revealed that his career-ending injury woes came after he received a warning from a spiritualist.

Appearing on talkSPORT’s ‘How to Win the World Cup’ podcast, the France and Arsenal legend was discussing the role superstition plays in football, before telling a chilling story of his own.

Petit said: “After the World Cup in 2002, I was lying on the beach in Saint-Tropez, in the south of France.

“A friend of mine used to sell watches on the beach – he’s from Senegal. He came to me and he spoke to me.

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“He said, ‘Manu, Can I tell you something? Some people in Senegal asked me to tell you this because they know that we’re friends. They said you know that we are a very superstitious country, with magic – sometimes bad magic over there.’

“I said, ‘Yeah, I know in Africa, it’s very common.’

“He said, ‘If you don’t follow the rules, if you don’t follow what I’m going to tell you, something bad’s gonna happen to you.’ 

“I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘You’re going to stop playing football and you’re gonna get a very very bad injury.’

‘Some people are very jealous about you. There are some people that pretending that you’re friends and you’re playing in the same team, but they want you to be injured’.”

After being warned of potential misfortune, Petit then revealed he was told the only way to avoid injury was to sacrifice a cow.

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Continuing with his story, he remarked: “I think, ‘You’re kidding me.’

“Then they said, ‘No, no, no, that’s very serious. So if you follow what I’m saying you may have a chance to avoid it.’

“I say, ‘OK, tell me’.

“He said, ‘You have to go to Africa. You have to buy a cow, to kill her and then you have to follow the ritual’, which I didn’t do. I’m not going to kill an animal. So I said, ‘OK leave it like this’.

Petit: I don’t regret ignoring advice

Petit’s worst fears then came true shortly after he received the chilling warning.

The 55-year-old revealed: “Six months later, I had a very bad injury on my knee and I had to stop playing.”

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The story left podcast host Matt Forde stunned, who then asked Petit if he would have carried out the ritual if he had the chance to go back in time.

However, Petit insisted he had no regrets, insisting he was more than happy with his hugely successful career, which saw him score in France’s 1998 World Cup final win over Brazil.

To Forde’s question, he replied: “I was at the end of my career. I was not the same player.

“I was very happy to have won so many things – so many successes and trophies.

“I had a very very good career. So no regrets.”